Jayhawks Open Home Season With Victory Over Pitt-Titusville

November 8, 2012

The Jamestown Community College Jayhawks jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back en route their first win of the young men's basketball season.

The Pitt-Titusville Panthers managed to pull within seven with 10 minutes left in the first half, but JCC rolled to 43-22 halftime lead and an eventual 93-64 victory.

JCC, an NJCAA Division II team is now 1-1, and Pitt-Titusville, which plays in Division I of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, is 0-3.

Article Photos

Keyonee Hill of Jamestown Community College flies to the basket for a layup in front a Pitt-Titusville defender during Wednesday night’s men’s basketball game at JCC. See additional photos at cu.post-journal.com.P-J photo by Jim Riggs

''I said we're going to try to do different things this year because we're so small (two 6-foot-7 players are the tallest),'' JCC coach Mike Cordovano said. ''We have to play defense as far away from the basket as possible and I thought we did a wonderful job of that - denying one pass away and keeping the ball away because we can't let them get set up at the three-point line. With our size, we would get hurt. We did that.''

He added, ''We also knew their point guard (Jahson Abraham) was a good player, but the kids around him struggled with their handle and we took advantage of that tonight.''

That showed in the turnover column where the Panthers had 28 compared to eight for the Jayhawks.

JCC found itself leading 15-4 after seven minutes of play and during that stretch the smaller Jayhawks were dominating the defensive boards.

''I was surprised at that because we did beat them if they weren't going to the offensive board,'' Cordovano said. ''And we were able to beat them on the break.''

And the fast break was what led to most of the early points.

''This is a different kind of team that we haven't had in a long, long time where we we're playing man and getting in the lane and trying to run a little bit,'' Cordovano said.

With back-to-back baskets by Mark Houston, Pitt-Titusville was able to pull within seven and that was as close as the visitors would be for the rest of the game.

JCC went on a 12-2 run to take control and it was capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyreek Jewell and Keyonee Hill. The Panthers pulled within 12 and then the Jayhawks finished the half with a 14-5 run to lead by 19, 43-22 at intermission.

Having a healthy lead for most of the half was important because the Jayhawks' sophomore point guard could rest.

''That was good because Calvin (Sterling) has got a sore back and he's our court leader, and the first half he was struggling,'' Cordovano said. ''The kids picked up the slack for him and Keyonee played well and I thought Kenny (Stokes) played well in place of Calvin.''

The Jayhawks made sure there was no letdown for the second half as they opened with seven straight points, the last two on a putback dunk by Jewell, who went on to score 23 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

''Tyreek is a hell of an athlete and we're trying to do things to get him the ball as close to the basket and he had a few dunks tonight,'' Cordovano said about he 6-2 freshman from the Bronx who scored 38 points in the team's opening loss. ''Tyreek is showing early in the season that he can beat you every which way. Off the dribble, with the jump shot, even offensive rebounding. He just goes to the basket and just goes over everybody.''

The teams exchanged baskets for a couple of minutes and then JCC took off again.

Stokes hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the second started a run of 13 unanswered points for a 70-33 lead with 11:30 left to play.

From that point, everyone saw action and had plenty of minutes. And it was a nice way to bounce back from a disappointing season-opening loss at Tompkins-Cortland CC on Saturday.

''I think on the road our first game, we were just very immature our there,'' Cordovano said. ''Today, being at home, we were comfortable.''

Stokes finished with 18 points for JCC while Michael Forrest had 11 points and Hill had 10 points and seven assists.

Pitt-Titusville was led by Hiree Peoples with 21 points. Houston had 18 and Klenke 14.

''I think this is going to be a fun team because it's kind of exciting,'' Cordovano said. ''In the past we've been a boring kind of a team and this is going to be a fun team to be out in the lanes defending and trying to run and shoot quick at the offensive end.''

The Jayhawks return to action on Friday when they play Chesapeake College, an NJCAA Division II team from Wye Mills, Md., at the Frederick CC Tournament in Frederick, Md. On Saturday, JCC plays host Frederick, a Division I team.